Vis Diving Spots

Glavna

dive site type: naturedifficulty: mediumdepth range: 0-50 mdistance from the diving center: 6 nmshort characteristic: a vertical crack being a relict of a waterfall from which the wall ranges from leading to a deep bay on the east or to a small cove on the west – western wall is vertical and deeper even negative, densely covered with yellow sponges

A diving site called Glavna is located on the peninsula of Kabal and a part of it is the northern cape of this peninsula, and thereby of the whole island of Hvar. The Croatian word of Glavna in translation to English means the main, what relates to the attractiveness of this place for divers. This site is can be divided for two parts – eastern and western – and both might be visited separately. What’s more, this site is suitable for the beginners as well as advanced, even technical, divers. Location close to the cape, in the waters of Hvar Channel, results in occurrence of sea currents under the water. The strength of the currents significantly differs and depends on the weather conditions. If they are weak and the sea surface is calm, the divers can realise the scheduled plan, but if they are strong and there are quite high waves on the surface, the dive is usually held in the place called Glavna East.

No matter on where the dive is finished, it most often starts close to the mentioned cape. Thousands of years ago, when the sea level of the Adriatic Sea was several dozens of meters lower and the island of Hvar was just one of the cordilleras, there must have been a river and a waterfall on the ground. Probably it was in times of the latest ice age. Melting glacier caused arising of different forms, one of which was the valley. After years and sea level rise, the valley sank and now it can be found on the depth of 6 m. The narrow corridor goes to the depth of about 10 m and then it peters out, transmuting to a vertical crack going down to more or less 50 m BSL. The biodiversity of life in the crack is incredible. It is here, where numerous spiny lobsters and moray eels can be seen and looking into the various holes in the wall gives an opportunity of finding another crustaceans.

After exploring the crack the divers can swim either left or right. East direction is highly recommended for the beginners. Deeper, there are orange sponges on the wall, but shallower the rock formations have amazing shapes. Looking for the sea slugs and finding the octopuses, the divers reach a bay, where the boat can be moored. The trick of lights at the depth of a few meters usually results of prolonging the dives, what gives divers more chances for finding seahorses. Seahorses are also commonly met in the ends of the dives held in the western part of Glavna. What is interesting, here, in a small cove, where the bottom is covered by big stones and waves are often noticeable, rare black white striped seahorses, resembling zebra seahorses, are living. However, finding these seahorses is not the main aim of diving on the Glavna West.

Just after exploring the mentioned crack, divers swim along the vertical wall, the most beautiful part of which begins at the depth of about 30 m. The wall is densely covered by the yellow sponges, which – due to lack of warm colours – look as if they were fluorescent. What is the most interesting, on the whole distance from the crack to the small bay, there is a gap between the wall and the bottom. Close to the crack the negative wall starts at the depth of about 45 m, so the exploration of the overhang is beyond the limits of recreational diving, but close to the bay it is shallower – around 35 m BSL. For those, who prefer swimming under the rocks to seeing the canyon (and being between the rocks), the diving can be organised opposite way to mentioned above and start in the area of the small bay to finish close to the canyon.